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CAVING IN TO WATER PRESSURE: Workers cordon off 152nd Street in Harlem yesterday after a water main burst, opening a huge sinkhole and flooding basements.Ben Parker

The city suffered another major water-main break yesterday when a Harlem pipe busted open, unleashing a 30-foot geyser, ripping open a giant sinkhole and taking out a gas line.

Dozens of buildings lost gas and water in the area, and A, B, C and D subway trains were disrupted as city and Con Ed crews struggled to fix the mess from the exploded 12-inch high-pressure main at West 152nd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.

“I saw the water explode from the ground and run down the street. The asphalt was caving in,” said area resident Vicky Gholson.

The “huge” water geyser “was really intimidating,” said Les Payne, who saw the destruction from his apartment window.

Con Ed said an 8-inch gas main “less than a foot” from the water main was quickly ripped open, sending a pungent odor through the neighborhood.

“We had to close the windows because of the gas smell,” said mail handler Miguel Fernandez, 34.

DEP crews soon shut down the 55-year-old water main, and some area residents said water service was restored about an hour after the 1 p.m. blast.

But even those who had water said it looked muddy and unsafe to drink.

“I have groceries but I can’t wash meat with dirty water, so I have to figure out what to feed the kids,” said Celeste Hollman, 44, a homemaker.

Crews were still struggling to clean up the mess last night. Around 5 p.m., the DEP said it was waiting for Con Ed to shut off gas service in the area so it could start fixing the pipe.

Yesterday’s incident comes two weeks after the July 27 water-main break in The Bronx that made a huge sinkhole on Jerome Avenue in Mount Eden, swallowing cars whole and cutting Con Ed gas service to hundreds of customers.

Some area residents say they’ve smelled gas in the neighborhood for weeks. “I’ve been complaining . . . For two months, we’ve had a gas smell in and around the building,” said Beverly McCullough, 50.

But Con Ed spokesman Allan Drury said it’s unlikely the broken gas main caused the water main to break. “Nobody here can remember a gas-main break causing a water-main break,” he said. “It’s always the other way around.”